The present invention relates to a rear mounted mirror assembly for motor vehicles and, more particularly, pertains to a rear mounted mirror assembly primarily for vehicles such as trucks, vans and the like that do not provide direct rear viewing as the vehicle is being backed up, for example, into a truck loading dock area.
The use of vehicle mirror devices is known in the prior art. Conventional vehicle mirrors are available and have been utilized for many years for the purpose of aiding the vision of drivers, when backing up their vehicles. These types of mirrors basically consist of familiar, expected and known structural configurations comprising a variety of differently shaped mirrors of various types that are mounted rigidly or hingedly, at forward locations or at the rear of the vehicles.
The prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,564 to Mazarac, which mounts a mirror structure on a rear surface of the vehicle, in a manner which projects an image through a rear window of the vehicle to the rear view mirror located forward of the driver, inside the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,550 to Krieg describes a rear mounted mirror assembly for motor vehicles, including a base member coupled to a rear panel of a motor vehicle. A pair of plates are provided, one of which is fixed to the rear surface of the vehicle, with the other being hingedly attached thereto and supporting a pole or telescoping arm to which a convex mirror is attached. The convex mirror can be pivoted to project sidewise of the vehicle, in a manner that projects an image of the space behind the vehicle to the front of the vehicle or, more specifically, to the side view mirror of the driver. Thereby, the driver is able to see other vehicles and obstructions when backing out of a parking spot.
A conventional style, side-view mirror which is attached to either the driver door or to the driver-side front fender is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,928 to Whitehead, et al. That mirror is able to pivot about a pivoting axis, so that if it hits an obstruction, it does not break off. It is also provided with a plurality of detents at which its pivoting position can be fixed.
Conventional side-view mirrors are typically located near the driver, within hand reach. Or, they are adjustable electrically through remote operation. In any event, if such a side-view mirror is hit by an obstruction, or needs to be moved to accommodate a tight space, the driver can simply reach out and pivot the mirror body to avoid hitting obstacles. This is not easily done with rear mounted mirror assemblies that are mounted on a rear surface of a truck or van.
The present applicant is further unaware of any rear mounted mirror assembly that is capable of swinging out of the way when encountering an obstruction and thereafter automatically returning to its original position when the contact with the obstruction has ceased.